Episode 471

TODAY’S READING:

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.

Psalm 5:11

 

He is the one that we should run to, and our relationship with Him should never be conditional, and it should not be convenient. Our relationship with him should be our number one priority at all costs. You know my family found refuge in America back in the 60s. Have four of my grandparents were looking for safety as they fled their communist country of Cuba. And they found hope in America and Allah it allowed them to meet the, you know, their significant others. So all four fled over to the United States at different points in their young adult lives. And then they met individually and collectively they grew their families until my parents were born here in the United States and then found each other and then obviously that’s where I come along. But what I’m trying to say is that my grandparents found refuge here in America, and you and I were not so different from my grandparents. We are not, you know, running from our country. 

 

Luckily we have stable countries in which we all live, and others we tune in from all over the place. But our souls are all longing to connect with our Creator. They’re longing for refuge, and they’re longing for safety. And so when we take refuge in Him, we can rejoice, and we can sing. We know that we are protected. We know that we are devoted to singing his name and praising the one, and loving the Savior that came for us. And so today, let us just pay attention to joy. It’s something that we should all work on—expressing a little bit more often. It can slip through our very fingers when we aren’t careful. And our lives are our testimonies to how God moves. Every single one of us has a unique testimony or unique way in which God moves in our lives and shows his fingerprints all over our blessings, all over our victories, all over our valleys, and our mountain tops. So today, let us just spread the joy spread the love of God and just every person you meet; just extend the warm welcome, the warm smile, and the warm light inside the spirit that sparks our days and fills us with joy. And when we do that, we are extending just a little bit of Jesus to everybody we meet and that and can have the power to change someone’s day.

 

Prayer

Father God, we love you, Lord, we love you, and we thank you for being our refuge. We thank you for being our safe place. Florida’s safe place to us means that anything and everything that’s going on in our lives is your business also, and so Lord, we gave that to you. Today we also look to bask in your joy Lord; we look to spread the joy of your love to everybody we come into contact with, so let us be a little bit more kind Laurie, let us be kind to the people that we come in contact with the line when we’re grabbing coffee at this target line at the gas station Lord, let us be kind to strangers and let us be kind to our family and our friends. Let us take the time to listen to when people talk to us. Let us take the time to reciprocate the love that you show so graciously show us. We love You. We thank you for this beautiful Monday, and we pray for this beautiful week ahead of us. It is in your son’s holy name that we pray. Amen.